Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-qxdb6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T03:32:22.962Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Glacial Sediment–Landform Associations and Paleoclimate during the Last Glaciation, Strait of Magellan, Chile

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Douglas I. Benn  and
C. M. Clapperton
Douglas I. Benn
Affiliation:
School of Geography and Geosciences, University of St. Andrews, Fife, KY 16 9ST, United Kingdom
C. M. Clapperton
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, AB24 3UF, United Kingdom
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Glacial sediments and landforms preserved beside the Strait of Magellan record repeated advances of an outlet of the Patagonian Icefield during and following the last glacial maximum (LGM; ∼25,000–14,000 14C yr B.P.). Ice-marginal landform assemblages consist of thrust moraine complexes, kame and kettle topography, and lateral meltwater channels, very similar to those found at the margins of modern subpolar glaciers. Taken together with other forms of paleoenvironmental evidence, the landform assemblages show that, during the LGM and late-glacial time, permafrost occurred near sea level in southernmost South America. This finding implies that mean annual temperatures were ∼7–8°C lower than at present, somewhat lower than those reconstructed by current glacier–climatic models. Comparison with precipitation–temperature relationships for modern glaciers suggests, in addition, that precipitation levels were lower than today. Reduced glacial-age precipitation may have resulted from a precipitation shadow induced by the Patagonian Icefield, an equatorward migration of the average position of westerly cyclonic storm tracks in the southern midlatitudes, or both these factors.

Keywords

South AmericaChilepaleoclimateglacier reconstructionlast glacial maximum
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 54 , Issue 1 , July 2000 , pp. 13 - 23
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aber, J.S., Croot, D.G., Fenton, M.M. (1989). Glaciotectonic Landforms and Structures. Kluwer, Dordrecht.Google Scholar
Alley, R.B., Blankenship, D.D., Bentley, C.R., Rooney, S.T. (1987). Till beneath Ice Stream B 3. Till deformation: Evidence and Implications. Journal of Geophysical Research,92, 8921–8929., Google Scholar
Almeyda, A., F., Sáez (1958). Recopilación de datos climáticos de Chile y mapas sinopticos respectivos. Ministerio de Agricultura, Santiago.Google Scholar
Ashworth, A.C., Markgraf, V., Villagran, C. (1991). Late Quaternary climatic history of the Chilean Channels based on fossil pollen and beetle analyses, with an analysis of the modern vegetation and pollen rain. Journal of Quaternary Science,6, 279–291., Google Scholar
Ballantyne, C.K., Harris, C. (1994). The Periglaciation of Great Britain. Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Barry, R.G., Chorley, R.J. (1999). Atmosphere, Weather and Climate. Routledge, London.Google Scholar
Benn, D.I., Clapperton, C.M. (2000). Pleistocene glacitectonic landforms and sediments around central Magellan Strait, southernmost Chile: Evidence for fast outlet glaciers with cold-based margins. Quaternary Science Reviews,19, 591–612., Google Scholar
Benn, D.I., Evans, D.J.A. (1998). Glaciers and Glaciation. Arnold, London.Google Scholar
Boulton, G.S. (1972). Modern arctic glaciers as depositional models for former ice sheets. Journal of the Geological Society,128, 361–393., Google Scholar
Boulton, G.S., van der Meer, J.J.M., Beets, D.J., Hart, J.K., Ruegg, G.H.J. (1999). The sedimentary and structural evolution of a recent push moraine complex: Holmstrømbreen, Spitsbergen. Quaternary Science Reviews,18, 339–371., Google Scholar
Broecker, W.S., Denton, G.H. (1990). The role of ocean–atmosphere reorganisations in glacial cycles. Quaternary Science Reviews,9, 305–343., Google Scholar
Brown, R.J.E., Johnston, G.H., Mackay, J.R., Morgenstern, N.R., Smith, W.W.. Permafrost distribution and terrain characteristics. Johnston, G.H. (1981). Permafrost Engineering. Wiley, Toronto.31–72., Google Scholar
Clapperton, C.M. (1989). Asymmetrical drumlins in Patagonia, Chile. Sedimentary Geology,62, 387–398., Google Scholar
Clapperton, C.M. (1993). The Quaternary Geology and Geomorphology of South America. Elsevier, Amsterdam.Google Scholar
Clapperton, C.M., Sugden, D.E., McCulloch, R.D., Kaufmann, D.S. (1995). The last Glaciation in central Magellan Strait, southernmost Chile. Quaternary Research,44, 133–148., Google Scholar
Croot, D.G.. Glaciotectonics and surging glaciers: A correlation based on Vestspitsbergen, Svalbard, Norway. Croot, D.G. (1988). Glaciotectonics: Forms and Processes. Balkema, Rotterdam.49–61., Google Scholar
Denton, G.H., Heusser, C.J., Lowell, T.V., Moreno, P.I., Andersen, B.G., Heusser, L.E., Schlüchter, C., Marchant, D.R. (1999). Interhemispheric linkage of palaeoclimate during the last glaciation. Geografiska Annaler,81A, 107–153., Google Scholar
Dyke, A.S. (1993). Landscapes of cold-centred Late Wisconsinan ice caps, Arctic Canada. Progress in Physical Geography,17, 223–247., Google Scholar
England, J., Bradley, R.S., Miller, G.H. (1978). Former ice shelves in the Canadian high Arctic. Journal of Glaciology,20, 393–404., Google Scholar
Etzelmüller, B., Hagen, J.O., Vatne, G., Ødegård, R.S., Sollid, J.L. (1996). Glacier debris accumulation and sediment deformation influenced by permafrost: Examples from Svalbard. Annals of Glaciology,22, 53–62., Google Scholar
Hambrey, M.J., Huddart, D. (1995). Englacial and proglacial glaciotectonic processes at the snout of a thermally complex glacier in Svalbard. Journal of Quaternary Science,10, 313–326., Google Scholar
Hastenrath, S.L. (1971). On the Pleistocene snow-line depression in the arid regions of the South American Andes. Journal of Glaciology,10, 255–267., Google Scholar
Heusser, C.J.. Late Quaternary climates of Chile. Vogel, J.C. (1984). Late Cainozoic Palaeoclimates of the Southern Hemisphere. Balkema, Rotterdam.59–83., Google Scholar
Heusser, C.J. (1989). Southern westerlies during the last glacial maximum. Quaternary Research,31, 423–425., Google Scholar
Heusser, C.J. (1989). Late Quaternary vegetation and climate of southern Tierra del Fuego. Quaternary Research,31, 396–406., Google Scholar
Heusser, C.J. (1993). Late-glacial of southern South America. Quaternary Science Reviews,12, 343–350., Google Scholar
Heusser, C.J. (1995). Three late Quaternary pollen diagrams from Southern Patagonia and their palaeoecological implications. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology,118, 1–24., Google Scholar
Heusser, C.J., Lowell, T.V., Heusser, L.E., Hauser, A., Andersen, B.G., Denton, G.H.. Full-glacial–late-glacial palaeoclimate of the southern Andes: Evidence from pollen, beetle and glacial records. Journal of Quaternary Science,11, (1996). 173–184., Google Scholar
Heusser, C.J., Heusser, L.E., Lowell, T.V. (1999). Palaeoecology of the southern Chilean Lake District—Isla Grande de Chiloé during middle–late Llanquihue glaciation and deglaciation. Geografiska Annaler,81A, 231–284., Google Scholar
Hodgson, D.A., Vincent, J-S. (1984). A 10,000 yr B.P. extensive ice shelf over Viscount Melville Sound, Arctic Canada. Quaternary Research,22, 18–30., Google Scholar
Hoganson, J.W., Ashworth, A.C. (1992). Fossil beetle evidence for climatic change 18,000–10,000 years B.P. in south-central Chile. Quaternary Research,37, 101–116., Google Scholar
Huddart, D., Hambrey, M.J. (1996). Sedimentary and tectonic development of a high-arctic thrust moraine complex, Comfortlessbreen, Svalbard. Boreas,6, 227–243., Google Scholar
Hulton, N., Sugden, D.E. (1997). Dynamics of mountain ice caps during glacial cycles: The case of Patagonia. Annals of Glaciology,24, 81–89., Google Scholar
Hulton, N., Sugden, D.E., Payne, A.J., Clapperton, C.M. (1994). Glacier modeling and the climate of Patagonia during the last glacial maximum. Quaternary Research,42, 1–19., Google Scholar
Humlum, O. (1985). Genesis of an imbricate push moraine, Höfdabrekkujøkull, Iceland. Journal of Geology,93, 185–195., Google Scholar
Humphrey, N., Kamb, B., Fahnestock, M., Engelhardt, H. (1993). Characteristics of the bed of the lower Columbia Glacier, Alaska. Journal of Geophysical Research,98, 837–846., Google Scholar
Kamb, B. (1991). Rheological nonlinearity and flow instability in the deforming bed mechanism of Ice Stream motion. Journal of Geophysical Research,96, 585–595., Google Scholar
Kamb, B., Engelhardt, H., Fahnestock, M.A., Humphrey, N., Meier, M., Stone, D. (1995). Mechanical and hydrologic basis for the rapid motion of a large tidewater glacier 2. Interpretation. Journal of Geophysical Research,99, 15231–15244., Google Scholar
Knudsen, O. (1995). Concertina eskers, Bruarjökull, Iceland: An indicator of surge-type glacier behaviour. Quaternary Science Reviews,14, 487–493., Google Scholar
Krüger, J. (1994). Glacial processes, sediments, landforms, and stratigraphy in the terminus region of Myrdalsjökull, Iceland. Folia Geographica Danica,21, 1–233., Google Scholar
Kutzbach, J.E., Guetter, P.J. (1986). The influence of changing orbital parameters and surface boundary conditions on climate simulations for the past 18,000 years. Journal of Atmospheric Science,43, 1726–1759., Google Scholar
Lliboutry, L. (1998). Glaciers of Chile and Argentina. Williams, R.S., Ferrigno, J.G. Satellite Image Atlas of Glaciers of the World: South America 1109–1206., Google Scholar
Lowell, T.V., Heusser, C.J., Andersen, B.G., Moreno, P.I., Hauser, A., Heusser, L.E., Schlüchter, C., Marchant, D.R., Denton, G.H. (1995). Interhemispheric correlation of late Pleistocene glacial events. Science,269, 1541–1549., Google Scholar
Maag, H. (1969). Ice Dammed Lakes and Marginal Glacial Drainage on Axel Heiberg Island. Axel Heiberg Island Research Report,McGill University, Montreal.Google Scholar
Mackay, J.R., Mathews, W.H. (1964). The role of permafrost in ice thrusting. Journal of Geology,72, 378–380., Google Scholar
Markgraf, V. (1989). Reply to C. J. Heusser's ‘Southern Westerlies during the Last Glacial Maximum’. Quaternary Research,31, 426–432., Google Scholar
Markgraf, V., Kenny, R.. Character of rapid vegetation and climate change during the late-glacial in southernmost South America. Huntley, B. (1997). Past and Future Rapid Environmental Changes: The Spatial and Evolutionary Responses of Terrestrial Biota. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.81–90., Google Scholar
Markgraf, V., Dodson, J.R., Kershaw, A.R., McGlore, M.S., Nicholls, N. (1992). Evolution of late Pleistocene and Holocene climates in the circum-South Pacific land areas. Climate Dynamics,6, 193–211., Google Scholar
McCulloch, R.D., Bentley, M.J. (1998). Late Glacial ice advances in the Strait of Magellan, Southern Chile. Quaternary Science Reviews,17, 775–787., Google Scholar
Miller, A.. The climate of Chile. Schwerdtfeger, W. (1976). World Survey of Climatology, Volume 12: Climates of Central and South America. Elsevier, Amsterdam.113–145., Google Scholar
Ohmura, A., Kasser, P., Funk, M. (1992). Climate at the equilibrium line of glaciers. Journal of Glaciology,38, 397–411., Google Scholar
Porter, S.C., Clapperton, C.M., Sugden, D.E. (1992). Chronology and dynamics of deglaciation along and near the Strait of Magellan, southernmost South America. Sveriges Geologiska Undersökning Ser. Ca.,81, 233–239., Google Scholar
Powell, R.D. (1984). Glacimarine processes and inductive lithofacies modeling of ice shelf and tidewater glacier sediments based on Quaternary examples. Marine Geology,57, 1–52., Google Scholar
Richardson, C., Holmlund, P. (1996). Glacial cirque formation in northern Scandinavia. Annals of Glaciology,22, 102–106., Google Scholar
Roberts, D.E. (1984). Quaternary History of the Falkland Islands. University of Aberdeen, Scotland.Google Scholar
Sharp, M.J. (1985). ‘Crevasse-fill’ ridges–A landform type characteristic of surging glaciers?. Geografiska Annaler,67A, 213–220., Google Scholar
Sugden, D.E., Clapperton, C.M. (1981). An ice-shelf moraine, George VI Sound, Antarctica. Annals of Glaciology,2, 135–141., Google Scholar
Villagran, C. (1988). Expansion of Magellanic moorland during the late Pleistocene: Palynological evidence from northern Isla Chiloé, Chile. Quaternary Research,30, 304–314., Google Scholar
Zamora, M., Santana, A. (1979). Caracterı́sticas climáticas de la costa occidental de la Patagonia entre las latitudes 46°40′ y 56°30′ S. Annales del Instituto de la Patagonia,10, 109–154., Google Scholar